Variety (March 1921)

VAUDEVILLE Friday, March 18, 1821 WHITING AND BURT LEAVE PALACE BILL Would Not Consent to Censor- ing of Song. BILLS AT STRAND, DAYTON THEATRICAL LEAGUE OF BASEBALL CLUBS Keith's Switch** May 1—Six Acts and Film Whiting and Burt left the • ' at the Palace after the Monday per- formances following* the censoring of a line in the song 'Geo Gee;* or- dered out by the Keith office through the house manager, Elmer Rogers. The act contended that the line in question, "I don't know what I've got, but I've got a lot," was ot ob- Jectional nor deserving of ~ensor- ahip. Whiting and Burt he. a Keith route. They have been f ing their double turn in the Koith houses for a couple of months following their abandoning of their *re'*ue" turn. At the Rivers'de last week the same line was objected to but upon Whiting's threat to leave the bill if deleted, he was allowed to keep the song in. JACK FOX STILL OUT. Unauthorized Story of Reinstate- ment—Won't Be Reinstated. Following the story that Jack Fox, given out by Fox, had been re- instated by the Pantages office cane a deniai from both the Chicago and New York offices that such was the fact. Fox gave the story to a Variety representative, claiming to have been notified by his Chicago office he had been restored his booking privileges. Walter Keefe, the local Pantages booker, said in part Fox had been barred with no chance for reinstate- ment. Keefe gave as reasons Fox's Dayton, O., March 16. Pending the building of the new Keith theatre here, Keith's bills will be transferred to the Strand, which has been playing pictures. The switch will occur May 1, at which time the Shuberts' lease on the old Keith's begins. It is under- stood the Shuberts will keep the house dark until the fall. The new Keith house will be lo- cated at Fourth and Ludlow streets, considered the cream spot of the city. The old Keith's 14 said never to have been a winner because of its poor location. The Keith show at the Strand will consist of six acts and a feat- ure film. LOEWS 83RD ST. IN FALL Loew's 83rd Street Theatre, lo- cated at that street on Broadway, is expected to be finished by the early fall. The theatre will seat about 2,800. On the Broadway front will be a three-story office building. Office space is being rented in it by the Loew people at around $3.50 a square foot. CLUSTER OF L. A. HOUSES. Throe New Vaudeville Theatres Within Three Blocks. testimony in open court he had pre sent at a V. M. P. A. dinner charged acts 16 per cent, commis sion, and further stated that the Fox method of doing business was objectionable to the Pantages office. According to Keefe, Fox made a practice of attaching acts for exor- bitant commissions and levied attachments and garnishees indis- criminately. V. M. P. A. DINNER MARCH 22. The annual dinner of the Vaude- ville Managers' Protective Associa- tion, orginally scheduled to be held Friday, March 18, at the Hotel Plaza, has been postponed until Tuesday. March 22. B. S. Moss, president of the V. If. P. A., will preside, as on past occa- sions. Alexander Pantages will be num- bered among the list of guests, hav- ing signified his Intention of being present several weeks ago. It-will be the first time Pantages ha» been Home Grounds—Amateurs— Cohan Sponsoring Plan. A theatrical baseball league 1. In process of formation, sponsored by George M. Cohan. The plan is to secure a groun.de in New York City | and play a complete schedule, each team to bear the expense pro r ta. A list of bona-fide eligible players is to be filed and bond to be for- feited in the event of usinr. "ring- ers" is to be ) jsted by each organi- zation entering. Clubs that will be ask.*: to enroll are the N. V. A., Vaudeville Mana- gers' Producers Association. Music Publishers Protective Association, Local No. 1 of the I. A. T. S. E. (stage hands), Producing Managers' Association, Actors' Equity, Actors' Fidelity League, the Lights and the Cheese Club, which includes repre- sentatives from the theatrical trade papers. Any theatrical organization is eligible. It is planned to open the season about May 15 and play a four months' schedule of Saturday and Sunday games.* Bronx Oval or Dyckman Oval may be secured as the home grounds. The City Col- lege Stadium is also bei. ; consid- ered. Los Angeles, March 16. Plans have been filed and a per- mit issued for the building of the Junior Orpheum here. The house is to cost $1,260,000 and will be lo- cated at Eighth and Hill streets, about half a block away from the New Pantages, at Seventh and Hill. The new Marcus Loew State is in construction at Broadway and Sev- enth, a short block from' the Pan- tages house. The Orpheum building will be an eight - story structure running t'.ough from Hill to Olive street with 175 feet on Hill, 159 on Eighth and 120 on Olive, with office front- ages on all three streets. The the- atre proper will have a seating ca- pacity of 4,000 and offer continuous shows from 11 A. M. to 11 P. M. 8 ACTS IN MEMPHIS Orpheum Increases 8ixe of Bill, To Go Intact Weekly to New Orleans Gus Sun also will be present. FOX AND KEENEY AT ODDS OVER BAY RIDGE Keeney Alleges Lease, Fox Renovating Theatre. Memphis, March 16. Commencing this-week the Or- pheum is playing eight acts weekly as its program, instead of the former seven. * The entire Memphis Orpheum bill, as heretofore, will trav'el in- tact to New Orleans upon finishing the local engagement. PANTAGES PROMISES MORE MONEY FOR BILLS Books Jack Dempsey—Offers N. 0. House for Opera. New Orleans, March 16. After spending a week in this city in arranging for the erection of his new theatre to be built here, Alex 'Irnntages left for Chicago -Mid NVw York. He will return to New Orleans in about 10 days. Pantages intends to Increase the outlay for bills over his circuit, and will seel: the big- gest drawing cards possible. Pantages booked Jack Dempsey as ah added attraction the other day. He had a wire disclosing the heavyweight champion had drawn over $5,000 the first three perform- ances. Another wire displayed showed a net profit for the new Pantages Memphis house of close to $6,000. Pantages laughingly averred he was putting the bee on some of the "opposish" booking agencies. Re- cently the Pan Chicago office plucked the House of David Band while the Orpheum was quibbling with the act. Pantages received quite some local publicity by offering his new house to the French Opera Asso ia- tion in the event it decided to reinstitute opera in New Orleans. SUN TURNS TO STOCK Leaves Springfield, O., Without Vaudeville Springfield, O., March 16. This city is now without vaude- ville, the new Sun theatre discon- tinuing that policy Saturday and going in stock Monday. The Sun headquarters are located here. The Fairbanks, offering stock, is now In pictures, as Is the Regent. The small Alhambra, one of the early picture houses controlled by Sun, has been dismantled and used as a storehouse. STENCIL REPLACING LABELS The paper N. V. A. labels used by members by that organization to designate their baggage when trav- elling, which Insures priority in handling by th< railroads, have been discarded. Hereafter all baggage will be stencilled, each house man- ager of those listed among the V. M. P. A. being furnished with a stencil- ling outfit, which the artists may have access to. The paper labels proved undesir- able, because of tearing so easily and becoming defaced with usage. Sue for Salary. Los Angeles, March 16. Margaret L. Smeltzer and Ray Stewart have started suit against Diane Rubini and Jan Rubini for $467.50 for salary. They allege that they were en- gaged to stage a vaudeville act without compensation during the rehearsal period but were to re- c Ive half salary during the time after two weeks of rehearsals until the act was booked. LOEWS WESTEHN SPLTT-WKS. The Loew theatre, Indianapolis, and the Dayton, Dayton, plrying the Loew bills full weeks, will switch to a split-week policy com- mencing May 22. The Loew southern road shows will be booked out of St. Louis into Indianapolis and will go from there to Dayton. The Fox and Keeney controversy regarding the Bay Ridge house con- tinues with the Fox people, letting contracts for the rennovation of the house and Keeney alleging he has a lease which begins to function in 1922. Edgar Allen of the Vo\. office Is authority for the statement that re- gardless of Keeney a plans or state- ments, Fox will renovate the house and play the same policy of vaude- ville as the Audubon and other Fox houses. HOUSES CLOSING The Palace, Moline, 111. (Orpheum circuit) will end its vaudeville sea- son next week (March 21) and re- open under a straight picture policy for the Summer months. The Empress, Decatur, 111., will also bring to an end its two-a-day career April 24, to undertake a stock engagement. ' Poll's Palace. Hartford, will dis- continue its vaudeville April 30, with summer stock later. FOX IN TIMES SQUARE ? The William Fox Interests are re- ported ready to build a 3,500-scat house In the Times square section. It is understood the new Fox house is to occupy a plot on the south side of 46th street, between Eighth avenue and Broadway. According to the reported plan, of the Fox people the theatre is to be ready for occupancy by January, 1922, and is to play a big-small time vaudeville policy. BEDINTS ACT. . Jean Bedini returns to the vaude- ville producing field shortly with an act now in rehearsal titled "By Gosh." The turn carries a cast of ten, with James Allman heading. It's a singing and comedy skit. Loew's Hip at Yakima Quits. San Francisco, March 16. Because of poor business Loews recently acquired Hippodrom at Yakima. Wash., has discontinued vaudeville and plans playing pic- tures only with a possibility of road attractions coming in when avail- able ILL AND INJURED Miss Finley (Fihley and Gates) fainted on the stage of the Plaza, Charleston. W. Va.. while going through with the act. Miss Finley with a temperature of 104 had in- sisted on playing against the advice of her physician and the house manager. James B. McGowen returned to his office Monday after having been confined home for a week. His ail- ment was diagnosed as an after- math to an attack of influenza con- tracted while in the army. Frankie Hall (Hall and O'Brien) has been ill for nearly a month with laryngitis. Jean Gibson, who opened her tour for Keith's (Western) was t~ken off the stage at the Strand, Owosso. Mich., after her first show, with acute appendicitis. She was rushed to Chicago and taken to the American Hospital for an imme- diate operation. Jim Doherty was removed from the Hotel Grant, Chicago, to the Lakeside hospital where he under- went an operation for appendicitis, March 5. He Is reported in a sat- isfactory condition. Sam C. Wiel, playing in "The Crisis" with Daisy Dean and Co., was taken to the Misericordia hos- pital, New York, Monday, with a dislocated shoulder. He fell down a flight of steps in the Hotel Amer- ica. The act was out of the Folly, Brooklyn, bill. Leo Stark collided with a trolley car on Broadway Monday and as a result is carrying his right arm in a sling. Two days later the doctors had not yet decided whether his shoulder blade was broken.* Greta Kemble Cooper, playing Ethel in Laurette Taylor's revival of "Peg o' My Heart," has been forced out of the cast by throat trouble. Her sister Violet, who played the role six years ago, is appearing in her place. JANE AND (CATHERINE LEE «< THE BABY GRANDS" he Two Tiny Tots Who Tottered The Records That Towered Over The Old Timers For Years—AT RIVERSIDE THEATRE—NEXT WEEK (MARCH 21) The Anniversary of the First Year of Their Triumphant Headline Tour in B. F. KEITH VAUDEVILLE. IK AND OUT Wilson and Kelly failed to open -it the 23d Street Monday, Jack Inglis substituting. Dixie Norton (Norton and Mel- notte) was forced to leave the bill at Keith's Mary Anderson. Louis- ville, last week after the Monday matinee through contracting the '"flu." Dorothy Wahl, plaving the Keith pop house, was called in to fill the vacancy. Miss Norton will go to French Lick for a rest. The team will continue their route at Keith's Hippodrome. Cleveland. March 21. Illness prevented Bud Snyder and C<. from opening Monday at the Orpheum, Brooklyn. Daly. Mack and Daly stepped in. McConnell and West retired from the bill at the American, New York, the first half, due to the Itinera of Miss West. Weber substituted. Phil Baker and Aileen Stanley were forced to leave the bill at the Globe, Philadelphia, after the Mon- day matinee, duo to illness. A pe- culiar slant to the fact is that both are doing "singles," but have been offering a double at the conclusion of the turns, making three acts. The pair have been playing the Fox houses with Baker also in the "Midnight Frolic" a»~p the New Amsterdam for a 10-week period. Baker sailed Tuesday, March 22. for six Weeks in the English halls and returns under the Zlegfeld banner following the European engagement. Glenn and Jenkins were forded to leave the bill at the Colonial after .Monday night through sickness. I'into and Bayle took the vacancy. Mabel Bcrra could not open it Keith's. Philadelphia. Monday, through illness. Anna Chandler rushed over from New York for the afternoon show.-. "HERMANN" NAME FIGHT. Widow May Appeal to Federal Trade Commission. . The Federal Trade Commission may be appealed to in the contro- versy ( over the use of the name "Great Hermann" and "Hermann, the Great," if Felix Gritschmann. nephew of the original Herman, the Great, persists in the use of the name, according to attorneys of Adelaide Hermann, the originator's widow. . Last week the Loew office was in- structed that Adelaide Hermann contemplated action through House. Grossman & Vorhaus. Kritschmann thereupon changed his billing for an engagement at Loew's American, using his non-professional name. Mme. Hermann says she holds an agreement signed by Kritschmann. her nephew, dated Dec. 30, 1909, in which Kritschmann agrees to desist from using the litigated billing pro- fessionally. Kritschmann stated he had his name changed legally to Felix Al- fred Hermann In Chicago, May 20. 1918, in the Circuit Court of Cook County, 111., and that he had been using the billing "The Great Her- mann" and "Hermann the Great** for 14 years preceding that date. Kritschmann dictated the follow- ing statement:—"Great Hermann and Co., appearing at the American theatre, were obliged to have name changed to Great Felix and Co. dur- ing thir engagement pending legal action which Felix is now Institut- ing against Adelaide Hermann, his aunt, whereby he will show that his name is legally Felix Alfred Her- mann and that he has the right to use the title Great Hermann or Felix Hermann." If necessary the Federal Trade Commission will be appealed to by Mme. Hermann, alleging unfair competition in using the title and name made famous by her late hus- band and later .parenthetically, by herself in her billing, "Widow of the Great Hermann." NEW ACTS Helen Morley ("Mimic World ) two-act with her sister. Joe Santley will return to vaude- ville this month in a new act, to be produced by Jack Hazard. Ivy Sawyer will be co-featured. Milton Berllnger, last appearing with Jack Duffy, Is r^bea/sing * new "kid" double with Elizabeth Ken- nedy, 10 years old. who has appeared in legit. Ben Grauer, who was to have been teamed up with little Miss Kennedy, has been taken ill, inca- pacitating him for ah immediate ap- pearance. Young Grauer was last with "Florodora." Tom Wise in "Memories." former- ly known as "The Old Timer." Mossman and Vance who will Cloae with the Nora Bayes show. "Her Family Tree," Saturday night, •vill open Monday on the Fox time. "Peppermint," with live people, featuring Harry Downing, Vally Kand and Jazz Band. BIRTHS Mr. and Mrs. Nov |Jo (TOtO) ( Chi- cago, March 8. a daughter. Toto says he will purchase a heme at Baysidc, L. I.